| |June 20189CIOReviewAs we are seeing significant increase in adoption of digital technologies in the manufacturing industry, AR is set to fundamentally change face of work of an industrial worker in coming yearsrepair procedure delivered on a smart glass instead of referring to traditional paper manual improves produc-tivity and reduces errors.See-What-I-See; a First good step into AR. `In my view Remote support using AR smart glass (often re-ferred as See-What-I-See) is seen as an entry point into AR by enterprises in manufacturing/ field services.' By means of this solution a remote expert can guide the worker/technician on filed to solve any techni-cal problem. Thereby reducing the need for specialist onsite, travel and more importantly reduces machine down time.For example Porsche cars use `AiR Enterprise' soft-ware platform from Atheer, Inc., to remotely collabo-rate technician at dealership with Porsche technical sup-port team.Focus on core tasks with hands free mobile comput-ing. `Another interesting example of using smart glass is hands free order picking in Warehousing.' Warehouse workers can easily locate, collect, and deliver items by receiving the directions and visual cues directly in their field of view using smart glass. This increases the pro-ductivity of the worker and decreases error dramatically. This method is substituting handheld devices, scanners and paper pick lists.Immersive training - Bringing industrial workplace training into modern age:You can have top-notch design and the best trainers pos-sible, but the fact remains that most effective learning happens on the job.`AR/VR technologies have the potential to make the worker virtually learn in the same environment where he/she is going to apply it. This technology is changing the way the workers are getting trained'.Right from the factory tour to complex operating/maintenance procedures AR/VR can be leveraged for various kinds of training.Business benefits are many, increased training effec-tiveness, safety, saves travel cost for training etc.What it takes to become mainstream for enterprise AR/VR:While the AR/VR technology has moved beyond gaming and reached usability phase for enterprise, we are seeing certain challenges for this technology to become mainstream.We need to look at both devices and software chal-lenges. Few that stand on top of the list are;Devices/smart glass:· Ease of use: Worker ability/willingness to wear the glass for long hours, especially the binocular glasses.· Field of view: Many of the smart glasses have relatively smaller field of view making it difficult to use for specific job roles.· Regulatory certification of smart glass, for usage in shop floor and on the field.Nevertheless, with the strong focus from ODMs these challenges will be addressed sooner than later.Choosing the right glass for the use case is critical. This is because there various types of glasses in the mar-ket and each one is best suited for specific target appli-cations. For example, the monocular glasses are more relevant for See-What-I-See and warehouse picking. They might not suite well for quality inspection refer-ring complex Engineering definition or overlaying 3D digital content.Software Platform/applications:· How you integrate the AR/VR application on smart glass/tablet to a back end system?(Ex: manufacturing execution system)· How you transmit that data over the network securely into a device?· How you translate it from traditional instructions into an appropriate format for AR?Right now, those linkages largely do not exist. While designing solution, a lot of people look at tracking, visu-alization, and headsets only. But to scale up bigger, very real question remains:How do I link this to my systems?This is set change in sooner, as enterprises are insisting on scalable solutions to get maximum benefit.As we are seeing significant increase in adoption of digital technologies in the manufacturing industry, AR is set to fundamentally change face of work of an indus-trial worker in coming years.
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